Polymer-POSS hybrid materials as fire retardants

Abstract Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) are a class of nanostructured silica-based compounds that can be considered as an organic and inorganic hybrid material. The utilization of POSS has received great attention due to its ability to improve mechanical properties, lightweightness, and thermal properties of its composite materials. In particular, many studies have demonstrated the potential of POSS as an additive to develop fire-retardant materials. POSS can be incorporated either physically or chemically into existing polymer systems such as polyolefin, polyester, polyamide, polyurethane, polycarbonate, epoxy resins, etc. to enhance their fire-retardant properties. Improvements in crucial fire-retardant parameters, such as the amount of heat, smoke, and carbon dioxide released, the ignition time, the limiting of oxygen index, and the absence of melt dripping, were observed in many polymer-POSS hybrid materials. This chapter summarizes the key findings and recent progress of polymer-POSS hybrid materials as fire retardants.